Openreach: 81 new Gfast locations

UK broadband infrastructure provider Openreach has announced an extension to its Gfast ultrafast broadband footprint with a plan to make faster, more reliable broadband available to just over a million homes and businesses. It says the multimillion pound investment will not only boost local productivity and competitiveness but will also help to reinforce the UK’s position as the leading digital economy in the G20.

The Gfast ultrafast speeds will allow the download of a two hour HD film in just 90 seconds, a 45 minute HD TV show in just 16 seconds, or a nine hour audio book in just three seconds.

London, Leicester, Manchester, Worthing, Stoke, and Blackpool, are amongst the 81 locations which make up the next phase of our build programme over the next nine months. This means we are adding to the existing 250 locations where the ultrafast technology has already been deployed.

“Currently, the UK is a world leader in digital infrastructure and services, but as the digital revolution rushes forwards and the demand for data continues to grow, we need to sure we stay ahead of the curve,” commented Kim Mears, MD for Strategic Infrastructure Development. “That’s why we’re investing in faster, more reliable network infrastructure.”

The new Gfast network builds on existing infrastructure and changes the way broadband signals are transmitted from existing street cabinets to boost speeds up to 330Mbps (seven times today’s UK average), without the need to dig up roads and install new cabling.

Ultrafast broadband speeds can be delivered using both Gfast and Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) technologies, and this latest announcement complements a wider investment programme in future-proof FTTP networks, which is on track to reach three million homes and businesses by the end of 2020.

Openreach plans to reach a total of 5.7 million properties using Gfast, and wants to extend its FTTP rollout to 10 million premises by the mid-2020s if the conditions are right to invest.